Landslide in China’s Sichuan Province: Grandma Sacrifices Life So Grandchild Can Live (VIDEO)

Knowing that death will eventually take her, only it came sooner, a Chinese grandmother, in what could be one final act of unconditional love, opted to make her body as a human shield to protect her 15-month-old granddaughter from being squashed by a landslide that overthrew their house in China's Sichuan Province.

State broadcaster CCTV on Thursday played a footage of rescuers retrieving a child from the rubble of her home after being trapped for seven hours, but nonetheless was kept safe by her dead grandmother's embrace.

Southwest China's Sichuan Province experienced massive flooding and landslides following heavy torrential rains on Sunday. As of Tuesday, 48 have died while 21 were still missing. Authorities expect the figures to rise.

Rescuers theorised the grandmother, identified as Pan Guofen, created an arch out of her body to protect the child, Wei Menghan. Her body was found to be kneeling on all fours, hands clenched into fists. On top of her back was a large concrete slab.

"When we approached the bedroom area, we heard the soft crying of a kid," Li Yong, the head of the county's firefighting team, told the broadcaster, as translated by The Telegraph.

"Being buried for seven hours, but still safe and sound. It is such a miracle."

The grandmother failed to survive her ordeal because her head has been crushed by a brick.

"She was a great mum. But she's gone forever," the baby's father, son of the grandmother, said.

Local authorities said on Thursday 2.5 million people were affected by the landslides. Nearly 120,000 have been relocated.